Victorian Forts Milford Haven 3
Fort Hubberstone (Battery)
Commenced 1860 Armament
Completed 1863 1870 Mounted 11 x 9-inch RML
Cost £ 55,000 1885 Mounted 3 x 7inch RML Moncrieff
Map Reference SM 890 054 1886
Position Casemate Battery 9 x 9-inch RML
Moncrieff battery Nil
Open Battery 1 x 10-inch RML
Type Coast Defence Battery 5 x 9-inch RML
Ditch Dry 1893 Approved 3 x 10inch RML 5 x 9inch RML
Guns 28 - 32 1898 Mounted 14 x 9inch RML
Mounted 1 x 10-inch RML 8 x 9-inch RML
Barrack Accom. Proposed 3 x 6-inch BL VII
Present use Private owner 1908 1 x 12pr QF
History British Army Camp and US Seabees Caponiers 1
base 2
Disposal Sold 1932 Counterscarp
Condition Poor. Scheduled galleries
Access Private land
Haxo casemates none
1858 &1868 Committee Reports, Precis of
Sources Correspondence prior to 1893 National Archives. 8
FSG conference papers 1997 Moncrieff Pits
History and description
Fort Hubberstone was approved by the Royal Commission of 1860 as part of the defences of Milford Haven. It was completed in that year
as a nine gun installation. Work then began on the casemated battery, this being completed in 1863. as an eleven gun battery with a further
eight guns on the terreplein and nine more in an open east flank battery. At the top of the site is a defensible barrack, approximately
semi-circular with a high gorge wall. From the right hand corner of the barrack a sunken way runs around the terreplein down to the
casemates. The ditch in front of the barrack is protected by caponiers and a counterscarp gallery, the entrance to the work being over a
drawbridge.
In August 1868 plans were approved for the alteration of the work to replace eight of the guns on the terreplein with eight guns in
Moncrieff pits. Despite the ridiculous application of this type of gun in such a position the work was completed by 1872. The main gun
casemates were armed with eleven 12-ton RML guns by 1872. By 1881 the open battery was re-armed with 10-inch RML guns and the
fort was complete. In 1884 the infantry garrison was removed. In 1885 the three remaining Moncrieff guns on the roof were removed as
armament of salient for works at Portsmouth. In 1886 it was decided The casemated battery should be treated in the same manner as
recommended for Popton Point, the casemates to remain armed being Nos II, IV, VI, VIII and X. In the open battery 2 x 10inch RML
should be added and all the 9inch RML removed; the 10inch guns should be mounted for high-angle fire to assist South Hook in the
protection of Freshwater bay. The magazines and cartridge stores behind the casemates are unsafe. In 1908 its sole armament was one
12pr. QF gun in a practice battery. It was never upgraded with modern weapons and shortly after World War One it was abandoned.
It was sold in 1932. In 1939-45 it was used as a communal air-raid shelter, British Army camp and US Seabees base. From then on it
deteriorated to the sorry state in which it can be found today although the new owners in 1977 sought planning permission to restore it and
find a new use. The current owners are actively seeking a use for it which may include conversion to flats and retail units.
www.victorianforts.co.uk